Friends and Storms and Steep Mountain Roads

Today started out quiet and lazy. I wrote up yesterday's adventures and posted them on  the blog, and then Curt and I did paperwork and correspondence until lunchtime. In the mid afternoon, while Bonnie ran errands, Curt and I set out to visit old friends, Jack and Ann Parkhurst, who live outside of Brevard, N.C., a town about 20 miles from here. Now for our friends in Texas, 20 miles means about 20 minutes. We're still learning to translate things into mountain lingo. This is stuff we used to know, but we're re-learning it now. Take 20 miles, add a frog-strangler of a storm, very limited visibility, unfamiliar mountain roads that wind up and up in impossibly convoluted curves, a good-sized pick-up truck that seems way too large for the width of the road and the tightness of the curves, two people who are used to sailing along on long stretches of Texas roads, and you have.... Another adventure! Fortunately, also thrown into the mix were an excellent driver (Curt) and the absence of the camper (we unhitched it at the Cothrans'last night so we wouldn't have to repeat yesterday's driveway excitement). So we made it to Jack and Ann's beautiful mountain home with only a little extra adrenaline pumping through our veins. And we had a wonderful visit!

At the end of the storm: the breathtaking views from Jack and Ann's rain-spattered screened porch:

Jack was Curt's first friend when Curt was 13 and his family moved from Connecticut to South Carolina. Not many of the southern boys would have anything to do with a "Yankee" in those days, so Jack was a valuable friend, indeed. 

As an adult Jack became a professional musician, eventually becoming the Music Education Direcor and Assistant Conductor for the North Carolina Symphony.

And Ann is certainly the perfect creative match for Jack. She's been a professional ballet dancer, teacher, and dance studio founder, and a fiber artist for many years. She's a member of the Southern Hifglands Craft Guild, a very prestigious artisan organization, and she is currently showing her pieces at the Focus Gallery in Asheville, N.C. She was so generous to show me all around her studio and let me exclaim over her beautiful quilted, dyed, and painted pieces, as well as her works in progress. If you'd like to see more of Ann's work and get your own tour of her studio, google The Crafty Coyote, Ann Vorus Parkhurst, and you'll find all kinds of fun and inspiring things to explore.

But the most important thing about Jack and Ann, going beyond their creativity and extreme talent, is their warmth, hospitality and generosity. They are both delightful, down-to-earth folks with great senses of humor. They have both been through some pretty significant health challenges, and their love and support for each other is palpable. It was such a privilege for us to spend a couple hours with them today... a privilege we hope to be able to repeat soon.

The trip back to Bonnie's wasn't nearly as exciting... The storm was over, we'd traveled the road once already, and we could actually SEE where we were going! Back to Bonnie' s sweet little house nestled in the woods, and more enjoyable family times together. What blessings we've experienced already on this trip...and this is only Day 10!